Stamford sewer gas rankles Shippan residents

Published 8:37 pm, Friday, October 2, 2015

Photo: Matthew Brown / For Hearst Connecticut Media

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Residents in the area have complaints of a leaking odorous gas coming from manhole covers, shown in this photograph taken on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, in the area of Soundview Avenue and Tupper in Stamford.

Residents in the area have complaints of a leaking odorous gas coming from manhole covers, shown in this photograph taken on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, in the area of Soundview Avenue and Tupper in Stamford.

Photo: Matthew Brown / For Hearst Connecticut Media

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Residents in the area have complaints of a leaking odorous gas coming from manhole covers, shown in this photograph taken on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, in the area of Soundview Avenue and Tupper in Stamford.

Residents in the area have complaints of a leaking odorous gas coming from manhole covers, shown in this photograph taken on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, in the area of Soundview Avenue and Tupper in Stamford.

Photo: Matthew Brown / For Hearst Connecticut Media

Image 3 of 5

Residents in the area have complaints of a leaking odorous gas coming from manhole covers, shown in this photograph taken on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, in the area of Soundview Avenue and Tupper in Stamford.

Residents in the area have complaints of a leaking odorous gas coming from manhole covers, shown in this photograph taken on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, in the area of Soundview Avenue and Tupper in Stamford.

Photo: Matthew Brown / For Hearst Connecticut Media

Image 4 of 5

Residents in the area have complaints of a leaking odorous gas coming from manhole covers, shown in this photograph taken on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, in the area of Soundview Avenue and Tupper in Stamford.

Residents in the area have complaints of a leaking odorous gas coming from manhole covers, shown in this photograph taken on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, in the area of Soundview Avenue and Tupper in Stamford.

Photo: Matthew Brown / For Hearst Connecticut Media

Image 5 of 5

Residents in the area have complaints of a leaking odorous gas coming from manhole covers, shown in this photograph taken on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, in the area of Soundview Avenue and Tupper in Stamford.

Residents in the area have complaints of a leaking odorous gas coming from manhole covers, shown in this photograph taken on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, in the area of Soundview Avenue and Tupper in Stamford.

Photo: Matthew Brown / For Hearst Connecticut Media

Stamford sewer gas rankles Shippan residents

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STAMFORD - There is something rotten on Soundview Avenue, but the Stamford Water Pollution Control Authority is on the case.

Residents of the waterfront neighborhood have noticed the smell of sewage lingering in the air, especially in the summertime. The WPCA identified two manhole covers near Cummings Park that it says are not airtight, letting gas escape from a sewer pipe.

“For years, I guess, this has been an issue,” said Lisa Coggins, who lives on Owen Street, which is a block off Soundview. “I can smell that stuff in my house … I can’t even have my windows open in the summer.”

Workers from the WPCA had been running a “smoke test” to find leaks in the sewer when neighbors came out to complain about the odor, explained Bill Brink, the authority’s executive director. The WPCA’s supervising engineer, Prakash Chakravarti, then went to meet with residents and zeroed in on the source of the smell.

“From that discussion and just their own observations out there, you could smell the sewer gas coming from two manhole covers,” said Brink. “We are going to try to seal those covers with some material that holds the gas in and hopefully that will address the issue.”

Brink said that liners and gaskets are already on order, and should be in place within a few weeks.

“This is the least costly option,” said Brink. “If it works we’ll all be happy, and if it doesn’t work we’ll have to look at some other options.”

The gas was likely originating at a pumping station on Carter Drive, Brink said. Sewage that sits for extended periods can become septic, releasing malodorous fumes. If the gaskets don’t work at sealing the line, the WPCA may try chemically treating sewage at the pumping station to keep the smell at bay.

This particular sewer line, which moves sewage from Darien as well as Stamford, has caused problems in the past. In 2010, the line burst, flushing four million gallons of raw sewage into Shippan, completely ruining one home and damaging others.